Men
in Black 3
takes place years after the end of the Men
in Black 2. This time around, Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K
(Tommy Lee
Jones) are still sticking to their partnership and things seem to be
showing no
signs of altering in that way.
However, Agent K seems to be tired of things at work and the news of an
escaped
alien convict named Boris the Animal (Jemaine
Clement)
becomes an overwhelming issue that drives Agent K to an
on-the-edge attitude.

J
quickly learns that K had stopped
Boris before and that the issue was something of much more importance
than
their typical evil-alien crime bustin' business. Things were personal
with
Boris. J decides to dig deep into the past of what happened, but he
can't get
Agent K to tell him what happened.

As it
turns out, J didn't need to
ask K. Boris decides to go back in time while using a rare
time
travel device. Boris is thus trying to assassinate K so that he never
becomes a
prisoner in an alien compound K put him in so many years ago. This
leads to J following
suite in the whole timey-wimey time travel stuff, and he manages to
find a way to travel back in time so that he can attempt to save his
partner K (and perhaps the entire universe as well).

The
results of this Men in Black time travel story? Men in Black 3 spends a lot more time in
the 1960's with J meeting a young K (played to perfection by Josh
Brolin). J
gets to know how his partner grew into a grouch like he is in the
"present" day.
The results are decidedly humorous, entertaining, and bizarre as Men in Black 3 takes a first foray into
the classic method of sci-fi storytelling known as the "time-travel
plotline".

The
performances here are impressive.
Will Smith is always charismatic as a lead actor and he definitely
delivers in
this film. In comparison to the other two films, I actually thought he
had
found the best material to work with here. In the first film he was
playing the
rookie and he is certainly not given that kind of role here. Smith
feels right
at home as the leading hero. Brolin stands out more than anyone else,
though.
He completely steps into the role of Agent K in a way that is not mere
imitation
and not even remotely close to being unsuccessful. Brolin essentially becomes the character. It's
like he perfectly
tapped
into the same character and performed him as if he was a younger man.
Brilliantly and surprisingly acted to perfection by Brolin; this was
the
stand-out role in the entire film. Jones excels in the same kind of
snarky
downplayed tone as in the previous films, but he is actually less
involved
within this film and he doesn't seem to have the same thrill in
returning to
play Agent K as Brolin had in stepping into that role for the first
time.

Supporting
performances in Men in Black 3 were also uniformly
impressive.I was especially delighted
with both Jemaine
Clement
as the villain Boris and by Michael Stuhlbarg
as future-seeing Griffith, an odd man with an ability to see the
future's
possible outcomes. Both Emma Thompson and Alice Eve also did
commendable work
in the role of Agent O (though there is certainly less time given to
developing
this character, which is unfortunate).

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image to view Blu-ray screenshot with
1080p Resolution

If I
were to make a list of
potential films I never expected to be made,
Men in Black 3 was one of the sequels I never expected to see get
made.
Following upon the huge critical failure of Men
in Black 2 wouldn't have made any sense to me. It never did "click"
with me
as something smart for the filmmakers and studios to do with Men in Black.

Luckily,
it turns out that everyone
involved in those decisions to film more Men
in Black movies was on the right wave-length or something of the
sort. The
seemingly bizarre move to keep this as a franchise despite the
potential of
underwhelming box office returns for a third outing was decidedly smart
in the
long run.

Looking
at the film from a technical
standpoint is something that only delivers satisfying and surprisingly
pleasant
results. The first Men in Black film
was cutting-edge at the time of its theatrical release in 1997. By the
time the
second film rolled around, it just wasn't the same. However, Men in Black 3 corrects most of the
wrongs established by the second film. This applies to technological
aspects as
well. The effects are the best they have ever looked and everything
done by the
artistic team responsible for the special effects, creature effects,
the
make-up choices, and other technical wizardry areas are uniformly
well-handled
and it's so refreshing to see a sci-fi film that can blend
high-technology with
the upmost silliness as is displayed here.

Men
in Black 3 actually
manages to feel a lot like a live-action cartoon with all of the
high-tech gadgetry,
silly humor, over-the-top aliens, and stylistically offbeat diversions
that are
found on full display. I don't usually
like to refer to films like this (especially because I know
cartoons actually vary more than many would like to give the
art-form credit) but this film is silly and abundantly offbeat and it
feels as
though it was made for older audiences with a silly sense of humor. It
is an offbeat
experience that seems to be molded specifically from any hyperkinetic Looney Tunes origins that may have
existed to influence the end product. This may be due to director Barry
Sonnenfeld, who
is enjoyable and lighthearted here (and only occasionally
too over-the-top).

The
film isn't perfect, of course.
Yet most of this movie seems so care-free and fun that you will be more
likely
to have fun yourself. It's neither too serious to merely sit-back and
enjoy it
and it's better than an uninspired effort that thinks it can skate
around
audiences in some kind of bizarre blockbuster-zone of established
franchise
successes. The second Men in Black
film attempted that, failed, and the end result is a sequel made a
decade later
with much more enthusiasm and ambition at every turn.

This
may not be a brilliant film (none
of the Men in Black movies were
brilliant though...) but it is an excellent summer
blockbuster
with intelligence that is found within the sleek filmmaking style that
is fully
on display. The filmmakers and actors who worked on this film managed
to bring
it to a life that is newfound in the world of Men in Black
films. Once again, here's a silly and entertaining
alien-creature film that is well worth your time.

Men
in Black 3
even has an interesting conclusion that is both sappy and decidedly
fitting as
an ending. It makes the film franchise feel as if it's essentially
arrived at "full-circle"
as a series. Another Men in Black
film might not be even desired afterwards... but that's OK. If Men in Black ends here, it ended well
enough to be missed and remembered fondly. That's a good closing note
for any
popular film series to manage to achieve... especially for a series
that
is
returning from having a decade long hiatus.

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image to view Blu-ray screenshot with
1080p Resolution

The
Blu-ray:

Video:

Men
in Black 3 has
one of the most impressive transfers of the entire year. That's the
kind of
thing I would hope for with a major summer tent-pole film release. Men in
Black 3 joins the Sony Blu-ray release of The Amazing
Spider-Man as an undeniably astonishing achievement
when it comes down to presenting a film as flawlessly as possible on
the Blu-ray
format. It's amazing how beautiful the transfer is. The color and
cinematography
is splendid, detail is so vividly displayed, and the image is free from
any
annoying video manipulations. This 1080p presentation wows
at every turn while it presents the original theatrical aspect
ratio of 1.85:1.

Audio:

The
astonishingly excellent 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio presentation is exactly
the
kind of top rate sound mix one would hope for in a science-fiction
adventure
film such as Men in Black 3. The score by Danny Elfman is mixed well
with the
rest of the sound design utilized, the sound effects are frequent, and
the
overall design of the sound mix is effective in virtually every way.
Things
just don't get much better than this. It's crisp, clean, and dynamic in
presenting perfect highs and lows without ever sounding distorted. As
far as
the audio portion of this release goes, everything is exactly as
impressive as
you might hope to find.

Additional
Screenshots:

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image to view Blu-ray screenshot with
1080p Resolution

Extras:

Please
Note: This
combo pack release contains a
Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultraviolet Digital Copy. Supplements are provided in
High
Definition on the Blu-ray disc and most of the supplements are
exclusive to
Blu-ray.

This
Blu-ray release has some well-made and
interesting supplemental materials but there isn't as much material
here as one
might expect for a summer blockbuster. The following extras are
included:

Partners
in
Time: The Making of MIB 3 (26
min.) is a making of featurette that take
covers a lot of ground (rather quickly, I might add). This piece
includes a
combination of interviews, behind the scenes footage, and recycled
clips from
film itself. The ground covered includes the story of Men
in Black 3, the performances, the stunts, the addition of new
cast members (including Josh Brolin and Jermaine Clement), the
direction of
Barry Sonnenfeld, and the creation of the film's finale.

The
Evolution of
Cool: MIB 1960's vs. Today (11
min.) examines the efforts into making the
latest Men in Black film fit the
design aesthetics needed for today's audiences as well as for a
decidedly throwback
aspect found during the 1960's time travel moments.

Keeping
it Surreal: The Visual FX of MIB 3 (10 min.) takes viewers
behind-the-scenes of
the special effects and it explores the effects created for the alien
creatures
and several special effects moments as they are created and developed.

Scene
Investigations
(17 min.) is essentially an extension of the making-of featurette only
it's scene
specific. Various crew members offer insightful interviews and
fascinating
behind-the-scenes moments are explored for some of the film's key
moments.

Progression
Reels
(18 min.) features Men in Black 3 animation
and special effects supervisors delving into several key scenes and the
trailer
for MIB 3 with insightful commentary
tracks focused specifically upon their contribution of complex
post-production
effects.

Rounding
out the disc is a Gag Reel (4 min.), "Back
in Time" Music Video by Pitbull (4
min.), and a silly and unnecessary "Spot
the Alien" game.

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image to view Blu-ray screenshot with
1080p Resolution

Final
Thoughts:

Men
in Black 3
was an entertaining summer movie and it was far better made than I had
been anticipating
prior to release. The second film in the series was awful,
and it had been so long since the previous sequel had been
made that it seemed a bit surprising to even have a third outing at
all.

A
decade is a significant time gap between
sequels (even more so when one considers the fact that this was only
the third Men in Black adventure). Luckily, the
film will please most fans of the first
film. Men in Black 3 succeeds where Men
in Black 2 failed.

This
Blu-ray release is also an
impressive one that it is worth adding to any sci-fi comedy fan's
collection. The
release even contains out-of-this-world picture quality and audio
quality and there
is a decent selection of supplemental materials to round out the disc.